Category: 2013

WASHINGTON, DC – On Tuesday, October 15, 2013, President Barack Obama will award William Swenson, a former active duty Army Captain, the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry.  Captain Swenson will receive the Medal of Honor for his courageous actions while serving as an Embedded Trainer and Mentor of the Afghan National Security Forces with…

On Thursday, October 10, 2013, the President signed into law: H.J. Res. 91, which provides continuing appropriations for standard death gratuities and related survivor benefits for survivors of deceased military service members of the Department of Defense for fiscal year 2014, and for other purposes.

Vice President Biden met today at the White House with Finance Minister Yair Lapid of Israel who is visiting Washington, D.C. for the Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund.   They were joined by Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew and White House Middle East Coordinator Phil Gordon.   In a…

Today, the President met with members of the Senate Democratic caucus.  The meeting lasted approximately an hour and a half.  The President thanked the Senate Democrats for their efforts this year to try to resolve the budget challenges facing our nation.  Earlier this year, the Senate did its job and passed a budget, only to…

The President had a good meeting with members of the House Republican Leadership this evening; the meeting lasted approximately an hour and a half.  The President, along with the Vice President, Treasury Secretary Lew, Denis McDonough and Rob Nabors listened to the Republicans present their proposal.  After a discussion about potential paths forward, no specific…

The President called Prime Minister John Key of New Zealand to thank him for successfully chairing the meeting of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) leaders in Bali, Indonesia on October 8 and to discuss the productive outcomes from the meeting.  The two leaders welcomed the agreement among leaders that the twelve member nations will work toward the…

State Dining Room 3:16 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon.  Over the past five years, America has fought its way back from the worst recession since the Great Depression.  We passed historic reforms to prevent another crisis and to protect consumers.  Over the past three and half years, our businesses have created 7.5 million new…

Today, the President met with the House Democratic Caucus at the White House.  The meeting lasted over an hour.  The President thanked the House Democrats for their support of the clean, short-term continuing resolution that would re-open the government and end the unnecessary pain this shutdown is causing families across the country.  The President and…

NOMINATION SENT TO THE SENATE: Janet L. Yellen, of California, to be Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for a term of four years, vice Ben S. Bernanke, resigned.

We, the Leaders of Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States, and Vietnam, are pleased to announce today that our countries are on track to complete the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations.  Ministers and negotiators have made significant progress in recent months on all the legal texts and annexes on…